Corona "6th wave" Elderly people who could not be hospitalized and were treated at the facility temporarily exceeded 6000 people

It was found that the number of people who could not be hospitalized even if infected with the new coronavirus "6th wave" and were treated at facilities for the elderly temporarily exceeded 6000 people nationwide.

Since some people died of serious illness, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare is urgently establishing a system to receive medical treatment at facilities.

In the "6th wave", the infection of the highly infectious Omicron strain spread, and the beds became tight in various places.

According to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, the number of people who cannot be hospitalized and receive medical treatment at the facility has increased rapidly since January at social welfare facilities where the elderly and disabled are admitted, and reached 6110 in late February.

Most of them were users of facilities for the elderly, and there were a number of people whose symptoms worsened during medical treatment at the facilities, and some died.

More than 30 times the time when it was the most frequent in the 5th wave last year, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare said, "In addition to the rapid spread of infection, many people have been less effective after vaccination, and the bed may have become even tighter. Isn't it? "

Until now, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare had a policy of having infected elderly people hospitalized in principle, but this week we notified local governments nationwide to aim for a system where doctors can be dispatched to facilities for the elderly to provide medical treatment.

We are urgently improving the medical system in preparation for the re-expansion of the infection, such as requesting a report on how far the system has been secured by the 22nd of this month.

There is also a hospital dispatched by a medical team specializing in corona to facilities for the elderly

Some hospitals dispatch a medical team specializing in the new corona when a cluster occurs in a facility for the elderly.

Since January, the general hospital "Tama Hokubu Medical Center" in Higashimurayama City, Tokyo has dispatched teams to six facilities for the elderly to provide treatment.

Of these, at the special elderly nursing home "Sakura Terrace Aobacho" in Higashimurayama City, Tokyo, where about 140 elderly people live, seven users were infected in late January, and doctors and nurses combined on the same day. We dispatched 4 people.

It was difficult to accept all 7 people because there was not enough room in the sickbed, so after examining the condition, 1 person was hospitalized, and 6 people who were mildly ill were treated with neutralizing antibody drugs at the facility. I decided to continue.

We instructed the facilities on how to divide the living space of infected and non-infected people and how to put on and take off protective clothing so that the infection does not spread to the whole.

The rooms where infected people live were designated as "red zones" and grouped in the same area, and the corresponding staff members were limited to the equipment and trash cans used.

As a result, about 30 users were infected by last month, but only 3 were hospitalized, and the remaining users were treated at the facility and recovered.

Shinya Ohwada, the director of the special nursing home for the elderly, said, "If the medical team did not come, the infection would spread to the entire facility, and the staff would also be infected and forced to work with a small number of people. There is a concern that if you are hospitalized, your ability to live your daily life will decline and you will be bedridden, so I think it is an advantage to be able to receive medical treatment in the place where you used to live. "

Koichi Koizumi, Deputy Director of "Tama Hokubu Medical Center," said, "There are many elderly people who become more severe than expected just by delaying treatment for a day or two. Omicron strains are highly infectious, so it is most important to intervene early. Therefore, it is very important not to spread the infection and to administer the drug as soon as possible if there is an infected person so that it does not become serious. "

On top of that, "the number of infected people is overwhelmingly higher than that of the sickbed, and especially when elderly patients become severely ill and stay in the sickbed for a long time, young people who are likely to have been cured cannot see the illness. If we can reduce the number of inpatients and critically ill patients, the burden on hospitals will be reduced, which may be good for both patients and facilities. "

Early treatment in Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo with the cooperation of local doctors

Local doctors are also cooperating so that treatment can be started early at a facility for the elderly.

In Shinagawa Ward, Tokyo, in response to the tightness of the bed due to the 5th wave, the local medical association has taken the lead in creating a "medical treatment guideline" that summarizes the criteria for diagnosing the severity and the types of drugs to be administered. bottom.

Using this guideline, Dr. Hiroaki Iwama is treating at the facility in the 6th wave.

He specializes in rehabilitation for the elderly, but he also visits corona patients.

At the beginning of last month, we received a request from a facility where infected people were confirmed, rushed to the facility on the same day, and inspected the users, and found that they were infected one after another.

For those who became positive, steroids were immediately administered on the spot while referring to the guidelines.

Approximately 40 elderly people were eventually infected at the facility, but none became severely ill.

On the other hand, at another facility that I visited in January, more than 4 days had passed since the onset at the time of the request, and by the time I visited, multiple elderly people had already become severely ill.

After that, some people died.

Dr. Iwama said, "Elderly people tend to get seriously ill, and it is necessary to increase the number of doctors in the area in order to rush to start treatment as soon as possible. It may be necessary to share the knowledge of doctors who have experienced the field and develop guidelines tailored to the actual conditions of each region. "